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Eat a plant-based diet lose weight, shed medications and get healthy?

"The Cheese Trap" is the new book by vegan physician Neal Barnard, the founder of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Barnard argues that avoiding dairy can improve health and promote weight loss.

Think chickpeas over chicken, peppers over pepperoni pizza, kale over kielbasa. And while you’re at it, skip the cheese; it’s addicting.

Barnard, a vegan for more than 30 years, is a well-known advocate for adopting a plant-based way of eating. He maintains that a plant-based diet is the path to optimum health and a way to combat, and in some cases, reverse, chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes.

Over the years, Barnard has conducted and participated in several nutritional studies, including one about controversies explaining why trendy foods items like coconut oil, green juice and gluten-free “wear health halos instead of delivering real heart-health benefits, like nutrient-dense, plant-based foods.”

Barnard will make a stop in Detroit on Wednesday and Thursday to convey that message as part of a 10-city tour to kick off a 21-Day Kickstart Challenge to follow a plant-based diet.

Barnard is a psychiatrist with a focus on nutrition research. He’s the founder of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), and author of more than 18 books on health and wellness, including his most recent “The Cheese Trap” (Grand Central Life & Style, $27). The PCRM is a nonprofit that advocates for preventative medicine and higher standard for research.

It was 30 years ago that Barnard became vegan after working as an autopsy assistant and seeing the affects of certain foods on health.

“I did two things that year: I was a smoking omnivore that threw out the Merit Menthols and threw out my Velveta, too, and never looked back,” Barnard says.

The 64-year-old Washington, D.C.-based doctor will be at the Chass Clinic in southwest Detroit on Wednesday for a presentation announcing the kick-off of the challenge.

Barnard says he choose to start the effort in Detroit because we need the help.

The adult obesity rate in Michigan is 31.2%, up from 22.1% in 2000, according to a September 2016 report from the State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

“The health indicators are not good. There’s a lot of obesity and a lot of type 2 diabetes,” Barnard says. “It doesn’t make it unique because frankly, that’s true of the entire civilized world. But Detroit is right up there.”

Barnard also sees Detroit as a leadership city and says its where many things get started and spread elsewhere. “We also have some terrific boots on the ground there,” he says.

At Chass Clinic, Barnard will be joined by Marc Ramirez, a former University of Michigan football player. Ramirez, 50, and an AT&T operations manager, switched to a plant-based diet more than five years ago.

On Thursday, Barnard will visit the Motor City Health Fest in the Eastern Market area in Detroit. Billboards are up around town about the event, touting “Eat more fruits and vegetables” and “cut the dairy and meat.” There, he will join Rameriz and Dr. Joel Kahn, a local cardiologist and owner of GreenSpace Cafe in Ferndale, and other support groups and plant-based diet experts.

“After being sick for a decade, taking pills and getting worse, in 2 months, I’m off my insulin shots and all Metformin pills and in three months, I lost 50 pounds,” Ramirez says.

Ramirez also dropped 50 pounds within those first few months. Ramirez has a long family history of diabetes. Of his eight siblings, only one sister does not have diabetes, a disease that affects millions of Americans.

Ramirez and his wife, Kim, are certified Food for Life Instructors by PCRM. They founded Chickpea and Bean, which offers plant-based lifestyle seminars and cooking classes.

“Today at 50, I’m the oldest I’ve ever been and in the best shape of my life. How does that happen when at 43 I was so sick?” Ramirez says.

In April, Ramirez launched a 21-Day KickStart program in Macomb County. Nearly 100 people took the challenge of following a plant-based diet for three weeks. The group averaged an 8-pound weight-loss within those 21 days. And among the 74 people who participated in blood tests, Rameriz says, there was a 15% drop in LDLs (the bad cholesterol), and good cholesterol (HDL) went up 8%.

Barnard’s 21-day Kickstart pilot program started in 2009. Barnard said 500,000 to 600,000 people have done it worldwide. The program is available in many languages, too.

Two things happen, Barnard says, when people do the challenge: They lose weight and blood sugars improve.

“Apart from the physical benefits that they are experiencing, their tastes are changing in a way they didn’t forecast. They all say I used to be a cheese-aholic, but no, it’s not calling my name so much.”

Barnard says when switching to a plant-based diet, the average weight loss is a pound a week, “which is slow and steady, but there’s 52 weeks in a year, and it become effectively a one way street and very healthy direction.”

If you want to know more

Dr. Neal Barnard will make an appearance at these metro area events:

■ The Plant Based Nutrition Support Group will host Barnard at its meeting Wednesday at Seaholm High School in Birmingham. Doors open at 5:30 and the event presentation begins at 6:30. Barnard will sign copies of his latest book “The Cheese Trap” which will also be on sale. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. For tickets go to: www.pbnsg.org.

■ 21-Day Kickstart Kick-off: noon -1 p.m. Wednesday at Community Health and Social Services (CHASS) Center, 5635 W. Fort Street, Detroit. To reserve at seat, call 313-849-3920, ext. 5163. The event is free and open to the public.

■ Motor City Health Fest: 6-9:30 p.m. Thursday at the Eastern (in the Eastern Market area), 3434 Russell St., Detroit. At the health fest, there will be a screening of the film “Forks Over Knives,” which looked at how following a plant-based diet may ward off chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease. There will be free health screenings, nutritional information, food samples and cooking demonstrations.

About 21-day kickstart

This program started by Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine includes a 21-day meal plan, weekly meetings, Webcasts, an app that gives you a meal plan with photos, directions, ingredients and nutrition facts for all meals and snacks and demonstrations by Food for Life instructors.

Stir-Fry Vegetable Salad with Asian Dressing

Stir-Fry Vegetable Salad with Asian Dressing

Serves: 6 / Preparation time: 15 minutes / Total time: 45 minutes

Serve this salad warm or cold. You won’t use all the dressing. It keeps for 2 weeks and can be used in stir-fries and other salads.

If serving the salad over Chinese noodles, cook them according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

To make the dressing: Place all the dressing ingredients in a saucepan and bring to just a boil and then reduce heat to low. Simmer over low heat for about 10-15 minutes. The dressing will thicken just a little. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. When completely cool, strain the dressing into a glass measuring cup or jar (discarding solids) and refrigerate until ready to use. If not using right away, strain the dressing into a jar that has a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate up to 2 weeks.

To make the salad: In a large skillet or wok, heat the oil. Add the mushrooms and sauté until just soft and tender. Add the carrots, red pepper and cabbage and sauté about 1 minute. Add the choy sum, edamame and green onion and sauté 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add the cilantro and mint and toss to incorporate. Drizzle with about 1/3 cup or more of the dressing. Serve over noodles with additional dressing on the side. Garnish with almonds.

Vegan Linguine with Shiitake Cream Sauce

Vegan Linguine with Shiitake Cream Sauce

Serves: 6 / Preparation time: 10 minutes / Total time: 30 minutes

According to the Vegetarian Times, Mark Reinfield, author of several vegan cookbooks, “revamps a classic Italian recipe, replacing clams with a combination of shiitake mushrooms and arame, a sea vegetable available in the Asian food aisle of supermarkets.”

12 ounces dry linguine

2 tablespoons arame, optional

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 cloves garlic, peeled, minced (about 2 tablespoons)

3 cups fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 1/2 cups unsweetened soy, rice or macadamia nut milk

3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

2 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine, optional

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

4 teaspoons pine nut or walnuts, chopped and toasted

Cook pasta in boiling, salted water according to package directions. Reserve about 1 cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta. Meanwhile, if using arame soak it in 1/2 cup hot water.